September 17, 2025 / 2:39 PM EDT
/ CBS/AP
A Yellowstone National Park trail remained closed Wednesday after a possible grizzly bear attacked a hiker, leaving him with serious injuries.
The 29-year-old man suffered injuries to his chest and arm in Tuesday’s attack on the Turbid Lake Trail northeast of Yellowstone Lake. The injuries were not life-threatening, according to authorities.
The solo hiker encountered the bear 2.5 miles into the backcountry and sprayed bear repellent as it began to attack, park officials said in a statement.
National Park Service medics walked out with the hiker. He was then taken to a park clinic and flown to a nearby hospital.
Park officials said Wednesday they had no more information including the man’s name, where he was from, and updated condition.
It was the park’s first bear attack since a grizzly injured a 39-year-old hiker in the Mammoth Hot Springs area in 2021. That hiker was able to hike out on his own.
A grizzly killed a woman just west of Yellowstone in 2023.
The bear in the latest attack will not be relocated or killed because it attacked “during a surprise encounter” and did not exhibit unnatural behavior, according to park officials.
DNA analysis could determine the species. The man believed it was a black bear but its location, size and behavior suggested it was a grizzly, according to the park’s statement.
Grizzlies and black bears can be difficult to tell apart at times. But grizzlies grow much larger — as much as twice as big — and black bears usually have darker coloring.
In May, officials said a 400-pound grizzly bear was trapped and killed by park staff in Yellowstone last week because it posed a risk to public safety. The bear had overturned bear-resistant dumpsters and pulled trash cans from their concrete bases in search of human garbage.
Grizzlies are federally protected as a threatened species in the lower 48 U.S. states, where their numbers have rebounded from about 700 in the 1970s to around 2,000 today.
Most North American grizzlies reside in Alaska and western Canada. Last month, a bear attacked a woman outside of her home in Alaska, leaving her with serious injuries. Her family said she had “simply stepped outside for a jog” when the animal attacked, dragging her roughly 100 feet down the road to a neighbor’s property.
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